Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitive sensor device including a capacitive sensor having an elastically deformable dielectric layer disposed between each pair of opposing electrodes and, when external force is applied to the capacitive sensor, capable of measuring the position and magnitude of the external force by measuring capacitance which varies with deformation of the dielectric layer.
Description of the Related Art
A touch sensor using capacitance is described in International Publication NO. WO2009/013965. This touch sensor detects capacitance between an array of electrodes and the earth. For example, the touch sensor detects the position of an approaching human finger by making use of a fact that capacitance between some of the electrodes close to the finger and the earth varies with the approach of the finger.
Moreover, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. H06-52206 describes not a device for measuring capacitance between electrodes and the earth, but a device including a capacitive sensor in which pairs of electrodes are arranged in a matrix and distance between some of the pairs of electrodes varies with elastic deformation of a dielectric layer caused by application of external force, and measuring distribution of applied external force by measuring capacitance of each of the pairs of electrodes.